It was with some regret that I felt compelled to give 7 Days a negative review on Steam. After more than 2000 hours of playtime, I had until recently been optimistic about the future of the game. I have to admit that I can no longer maintain much hope.

The wait for A17 was tedious, but I told myself it would surely be worth it. It quickly became apparent that my hopes were in vain, and the shark had finally and truly been jumped. The newly added elements (with the exception of weapon mods and vehicles) failed to add anything compelling to me.

#staminagate is a great example of how poor the devs instincts are at this point. Yes, the stamina penalty was dialed back (somewhat) but the fact remains that someone, or several someones, thought that the stamina and inventory limitations were a fantastic idea! This essentially results in the survivor being a certified potato that has to grind XP for days just to get to the same level that used to be the starting point, literally for IRL years of game development.

#LBDgate is a great example of a solution in search of a problem. Before, we could just play and skills would level up naturally. Now we need to shoot zombies in the face (or stare mindlessly at rocks for hours) to learn how to boil an egg. And when I hear people complaining about how spam crafting and running into cacti was somehow a problem, it really wasn't. If you don't like it, don't do it. I got along fine without all this meta-gaming nonsense. Wasn't necessary then, and shouldn't be now.

Another thing that's getting really old is the constant assertion from Madmole, et al. of opinion as fact. There are many examples, but I will list a few here just for flavor: "Nobody liked the plains, they were boring and empty" "LBD was terrible" "players would rather have really pretty water instead of water that you can do anything at all with" "nobody ever explores the whole map anyway, so making it smaller is fine" "nobody likes/uses these textures/blocks anyway" etc. Interestingly enough, all of these features were put into the game by the Pimps, so surely they were just peachy at some point(?)

To borrow a sentiment from another forum user in a different post: "the game has lost most of its original character"
To me, that is the most damning thing about recent developments. I might love or hate any number of features that have been added or removed, but if the "feel" of the game has so dramatically shifted away from what made it successful, all else is rendered moot.

With all that said, I have NOT given up on the game entirely. While I am not optimistic, I will revisit periodically.
I'm hoping to see RWG improved dramatically, and that may be enough for me to overlook certain objections. I may also mod, but I would rather just play the game without having to "fix" it myself. Time will tell I guess.

***ATTENTION OMEGA-FACTOR***
I’m inclined to respond that if your review reflects your true feelings and is an honest account of your experience with the game then I could care less that it is negative and remains forever that way.

I love the game in its current form. The new AI is so much more interesting to go up against and the perks and attributes add a great feeling of progression. The new POIs are fantastic for exploration and assaulting and clearing them room by room is great fun.

The only thing that hasn’t set well with me since A12 has been the siren song of experience points drawing the attention of the player away from just playing and surviving naturally like we used to and instead doing things for the purpose of getting experience points— but I’ve fixed that for my own sensibilities and really truly enjoy everything else about the game.

Sorry you don’t but that often happens to people during the course of development. It's natural. It's happened to me with other games. This game isn’t bad at all— it’s just not for you, I guess. Hopefully you feel like you got your money’s worth.

You enjoyed the game for over 2000 hours and then you trash it? How sad. I also don't like A17 but at least I can keep in mind it is still work in progress. (Mumbles What's wrong with the kids these days?)

OP isn't asking for their money back and specifically points out the recent direction in development as the basis for their negative review. Not sure why people are pulling out the old "movies are more expensive" argument.

OP isn't asking for their money back and specifically points out the recent direction in development as the basis for their negative review. Not sure why people are pulling out the old "movies are more expensive" argument.

Because it is the "in thing" to attack the person, rather than their points. I for one agree with all he said. It was like he was a mind reader. I have gotten my money's worth out of it. I just hoped I would be able to continue enjoying the journey. For now, I've stopped and am awaiting certain mods to be ready in hopes of restoring my love of the game, or playing A16 modded wishing i had a the few bits from A17 I do like.

You enjoyed the game for over 2000 hours and then you trash it? How sad. I also don't like A17 but at least I can keep in mind it is still work in progress. (Mumbles What's wrong with the kids these days?)

But new players are only going to get the watered and dumbed down version, so as a review, it SHOULD stand.

...if you have a delicious cherry icee every day for years and years, then all of a sudden they start mixing feces with the syrup, should you recommend the icee to others just because it /used/ to be good? Of course not.

***ATTENTION OMEGA-FACTOR***
I’m inclined to respond that if your review reflects your true feelings and is an honest account of your experience with the game then I could care less that it is negative and remains forever that way.

I love the game in its current form. The new AI is so much more interesting to go up against and the perks and attributes add a great feeling of progression. The new POIs are fantastic for exploration and assaulting and clearing them room by room is great fun.

The only thing that hasn’t set well with me since A12 has been the siren song of experience points drawing the attention of the player away from just playing and surviving naturally like we used to and instead doing things for the purpose of getting experience points— but I’ve fixed that for my own sensibilities and really truly enjoy everything else about the game.

Sorry you don’t but that often happens to people during the course of development. It's natural. It's happened to me with other games. This game isn’t bad at all— it’s just not for you, I guess. Hopefully you feel like you got your money’s worth.

I most definitely got my money's worth. In fact, I would have paid $60 for Alpha 7. That's how much I believed in the game.

Thanks for your response. You may be the most reasonable man in America...

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Originally Posted by Hrod Land

OP isn't asking for their money back and specifically points out the recent direction in development as the basis for their negative review. Not sure why people are pulling out the old "movies are more expensive" argument.

Nailed it.

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Originally Posted by Jeraal

Because it is the "in thing" to attack the person, rather than their points. I for one agree with all he said. It was like he was a mind reader. I have gotten my money's worth out of it. I just hoped I would be able to continue enjoying the journey. For now, I've stopped and am awaiting certain mods to be ready in hopes of restoring my love of the game, or playing A16 modded wishing i had a the few bits from A17 I do like.

This ^^^

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Originally Posted by Guppycur

But new players are only going to get the watered and dumbed down version, so as a review, it SHOULD stand.

...if you have a delicious cherry icee every day for years and years, then all of a sudden they start mixing feces with the syrup, should you recommend the icee to others just because it /used/ to be good? Of course not.

.... "nobody ever explores the whole map anyway, so making it smaller is fine"

Most of the time I see people play this, they are referring to a server with 30-40 people playing on it.

That's now how the game is intended to be played, and that's not what it's designed for.
It's designed for a max 8-person co-op. And really, an 8-10k map is fine for that for the most part.

Originally Posted by Omega-Factor

To borrow a sentiment from another forum user in a different post: "the game has lost most of its original character"
To me, that is the most damning thing about recent developments. I might love or hate any number of features that have been added or removed, but if the "feel" of the game has so dramatically shifted away from what made it successful, all else is rendered moot.

Actually, the game has finally started to shift in the direction that it's always been intended to be. The previous iterations were placeholders where content that could do what the developers want was still being designed/created.
A17 is the closest the game has been to what it was originally meant to be in a very long time.

And I said this before a few times, I will say it again...

"They need to develop for what they want the game to be. Not for the playstile you're used to.Focus should be on how it plays for the person picking it up on release day, not a18, and definitely not for those of us that have been around for forever.

Also, don't treat a17 like a finished product. It's not. Not only is it just another Alpha release of an un-finished product, but it's not even a complete release at that. "Stable" doesn't mean it's finished. Just that it's ready for more public testing.

I say this as someone with over 5000 hours in the game, who has managed multiple servers simultaneously since a10. I currently have 3 running, and once they are done with a17, I will likely have a couple more.

Forget what you knew before. Try the game with fresh eyes.It's a challenge, with a bit of a grind sure. It's a freaking survival game, and it should be challenging. The early game should be a struggle as you fight to get started in the wasteland. Too many people are used to leveling up to a god-like character with near-infinite resources early-game. Those old systems were broken.Too many people seem to want a playstyle more like Minecraft than an actual survival game."

By play style like Minecraft, I mean that not as an insult, but as an actual comparison. Minecraft is stupid simple if you don't make computers out of redstone. The only real difficulty in it is the Nether, and in figuring out how the hell to make things in the crafting grid. Even Creepers are a joke once you've had a few and figured out their mechanics.

All the recent versions of the game have been way too easy, and there is almost zero survival aspect in it. I get that people want easy. The latest generations of kids are less and less inclined to put effort into anything. Bethesda bowed to that with Oblivion and Skyrim. I sincerely hope that TFP does not.

I agree on all points, but not to the extent to where I am done with the game. I made mention to the character of the game back when I launched the first A17 build. I could tell right away that the alluring charm of the game had been tampered with and it was quite disappointing. At the same time, let's face it... A17 was incomplete, full of bugs, and just a general let down for all of us who waited for it. So, for the most part, I am reserving most of my judgments for A18 (the A17 we didn't get).

Btw... spam-crafting was already fixed before A17. Like you, I have also noticed the tendency to bring it up as an example of its failures... a failed example because they fixed it. The other issues are failed examples as well, because the problem with LBD was mainly that players felt compelled to grind. But why? Because LBD was used to level gate OTHER THINGS! The same level-gating everybody has had an issue with in A17 is no different! Therefore, the current system is no better than the previous LBD we had. They are removing level gates. Great! However, they could have done that to begin with.

I, too, am a long time player, coming aboard with A6 and have over 4000 hours. With the release of every single alpha we get posts like these(no offense to OP). Changes have been drastic with every alpha and that upsets people. Since alphas are taking so long to develop, players naturally adjust to the current alpha. The longer the alpha, the more comfortable you get with it’s flaws idiosyncrasies and the more you rebel against big changes. I’m firmly in the camp that the length of A17 development, not the content, is the reason for decreased player numbers and increased bad reviews. Everyone had gotten so comfortable with A16 and it’s problems that when the drastic changes of A17 dropped, a portion of the player base rebelled. Many have forgotten the uproar when A16 released. Now you hear players revere A16 with its broken zombies, disappearing mini bikes, boxes full of useless gun parts and boredom after level 40. I still play A17 every single day. Is it great? No. Is it broken? Some parts are just like every alpha. Most of my concerns are being addressed either in A17 updates or A18 with the exception of zombie numbers where I’m told I’m in the minority for wanting more zombies inside and out. The point is most of the vocal players concerns are being addressed. If the game hits beta with this many problems then I’d say the game is in trouble otherwise wait & watch what comes with the next update. Until then, play A16 or A17, whichever version is less broken for you.